I have most always considered myself to be a purely academic writer and have generally preferred writing non-fictitious essays to writing creative short stories and/or poetry. That being said, my recent focus on poetry has helped me to find a creative outlet for my emotions, and studying the various structural and linguistic techniques practiced by other poets has provided a comfortable academic side to poetry that has helped me adjust to this unique type of writing immensely. A few of these poets include Maya Angelou, Walt Whitman, and Adrienne Rich. Strong female poets such as Angelou, Rich, Naomi Shihab Nye, Audre Lorde, Daisy Zamora, Anne Sexton, and Claribel Alegría have pushed me to focus on my own stance as a woman in society, which has encouraged me to write more political poetry, and to use my writing as a way to advocate for the marginalized. I hope to use the skills I have gathered from writing about my own social struggles to write about and advocate for others more effectively and powerfully.